You once expressed your amazement on ATUI that I did this job, which you described as "a living hell". Well, that's EXACTLY the theme of these memoirs.

I've selected a few nice illustrations of Dante's Inferno and a few Hogarth engravings to supplement the text, along with a few other bits and pieces.

Finished 58 pages thus far, and quite a lot of the remainder is all planned out. I'm pretty pleased with it but a lot of work remains to be done, which I'm trying to accomplish in between the full-time hellish sessions at work.

Hi eddie, I saw you were online at the same time as me yesterday so I conversed with you in the chat (also with you vera cruz)....I ended up chatting to myself though

I've finished at the dentist so soon I'll be heading home with my trusty dog Blue.

It's as hot as hell here in the north and it will get hotter as we travel west so I intend to make it a long trip by stopping at every water-hole so I can jump in and cool off. It will be a hasty dip in case of crocs...but it's getting to be too hot to care about lizards that stand in the way of a swim.

looking forward to spending more time on here when I'm home.

I found an internet place that charges only a dollar an hour, rather than the 8 dollars an hour at the shopping centre.

...I'm just peeking here as well till I return home, sending small messages. I'm back in the thoroughfare of the shopping mall again.Kids crying. Shopping trolleys rattling. Ambient music in the background.

"Fortune is bald behind and must be seized by the forelock, for it has the mange."

Nah Ville Sky Chick wrote:What have you been doing, finished that book yet?

Hi, Nash. Book's finished: 274 pp. But, as I've been discovering, that's when the REAL effort starts: marketing it. I've been drowning in a sea of Admin I hadn't fully anticipated. Progress slow, but had one or two nibbles. Paper, envelopes and stamps essential.

Last edited by eddie on Wed Sep 19, 2012 9:37 pm; edited 1 time in total

have you got a good publisher and editor , as I can tell you from what I observed in 15 years of the book trade both especially the publishing company and how they promote their authors especially the new ones is so important.

Last edited by Doc Watson on Fri Sep 21, 2012 12:22 am; edited 1 time in total

Here's my latest rejection letter, hand-written rather than the more usual form letter. This one's from the Susijn Agency who represent, amongst many other best-selling authors, one of my literary heroes Peter Ackroyd:

"Thank you for contacting us about your work, The Well of Shadows. We read it with enthusiasm and were impressed by its originality and engaging style. However, we are unable to take on your work at the moment, as it does not fit into our current list. We wish you all the best in finding the right agent to represent your work.

Self publishing is an option which has worked well for some authors , however it involves a lot of time and expense , not just going un announced to a book shop and leaving a box of books and hoping for the best . I hope you can eventually get published . Have you visited any of the publishers or just sent your manuscript to them ?

Doc Watson wrote:Have you visited any of the publishers or just sent your manuscript to them ?

If a wild-eyed author waving a manuscript turned up on the doorstep of a publishing house, they'd quite rightly call the police.

Wiki says that in 2007 76% of all books were self-published online, and it's an option I'm considering for 2013 if I haven't had an offer by January, but I'm old-fashioned enough to prefer a printed hard copy. The traditional publishing industry is undergoing massive technological changes, comparable to what downloading from the net did to the music biz. Unsurprisingly, when you can now download a book on kindle for 20p.